André Campra (1660-1744), a Provençal composer and renowned choirmaster at the cathedrals of Toulon, then Arles, Toulouse and Paris, likely wrote this Requiem Mass shortly after his arrival in Paris in 1694, while directing the choir of Notre-Dame.  Composed for a service in memory of the Archbishop of Paris, Monseigneur François de Harlay, in November 1695, this mass is part of a period when Campra’s religious music was reaching its full maturity: the traditional polyphony is treated with the same expressiveness as the solo arias, which already announce the composer’s taste for opera – it was at this time that he began writing his opera-ballet L’Europe galante.  The instrumental passages, far from being simple preludes, interludes or postludes, also attest the marked sensitivity of the future sub-master of the Royal Chapel of Versailles.

In performing this monument to the music of the Grand Siècle, Les Arts Florissants once again illustrate their vocation to revive the great works of the French baroque.

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André Campra

Misere (Psaume 50)

Entracte

André Campra

Messe de Requiem

I. Introït
II. Kyrie
III. Graduel
IV. Offertoire
V. Sanctus
VI. Agnus dei
VII. Communion

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